Life Insurance - Outweighing The Benefits?

Have you filed an application for life insurance recently? There is a small box that strikes fear in the heart of the "slightly overweight". Simply asked to report their weight. Do you go directly to the balance, stripping the state of nudity and agitated about the scales, trying to identify the lowest mark in the indicator? No, I think, will probably take a vague and overly optimistic to assume, to write quickly and move to the next question. Most of us do. It is not really cheating. You know you're going to lose soon, before Christmas / Holidays / wedding. Hopefully!

Now one of the biggest names in British life insurance, ie, Scottish Provident, in an effort to obtain greater precision in the development of risk factors, has added yet another innocent question, ie do When was the last weigh yourself? Mindful of the fact that many people are aware of their own weight and tend to forget the odd few pounds gained since the last in your diet "to end all diets," consider that this should help give a true picture of their potential health risks to customers. It is also noted that there are some people who find themselves in an effort to get cheaper premiums.

Scottish Provident, rightly concerned, they are told the truth. The British government is taking very seriously and obesity has recently announced that almost a quarter of us are overweight, and is considered by Cancer Research UK, which around a quarter of those not interested in losing weight. We are second only to Greece in the levels of obesity as a nation.

The definition of obesity is based on the Council of the British Medical Association, the Body Mass Index (BMI). For this you need to know your height in meters, then multiply by the same figure. Take the result of this and are divided by weight using kilograms. That gives your body mass index, which can be used to indicate if you are underweight, normal, overweight or obese. It will, however, overestimate fatness in people who are muscular or athletic. These figures are for adults.

BMI categories

Underweight = below 18.5
Normal weight = 18.5 to 24.9
Overweight = 25 to 29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or more

In a recent study of 33,000 adults reported in the Lancet, the figures for normal weight, were agreed and there was a suggestion was that the only adult patients with a BMI of 35 or more there would be a serious decline in life expectancy .

Most of the life insurance industry has accepted a level of BMI of 30, which seems fair, even generous. For anyone with a BMI over 30 your premium will be charged and may even be asked to take a medical examination. This means that if you are overweight can find their critical illness or life insurance premiums could increase by 50% and it is likely that for some, coverage may be declined.